Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34744823›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2021

Size Matters: The CAG Repeat Length of the Androgen Receptor Gene, Testosterone, and Male Adolescent Depression Severity.

Raphael Hirtz, Lars Libuda, Anke Hinney, Manuel Föcker, Judith Bühlmeier, Paul-Martin Holterhus, Alexandra Kulle, Cordula Kiewert, Johannes Hebebrand, Corinna Grasemann

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Raphael HirtzDivision of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology, Department of Pediatrics II, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Lars LibudaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Anke HinneyDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Manuel FöckerDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
Judith BühlmeierDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Paul-Martin HolterhusDepartment of Paediatrics I, Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Campus Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany.
Alexandra KulleDepartment of Paediatrics I, Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Campus Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany.
Cordula KiewertDivision of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology, Department of Pediatrics II, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Johannes HebebrandDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Corinna GrasemannDepartment of Pediatrics, St. Josef-Hospital, Center for Rare Diseases (CeSER), Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There is a distinct increase in the prevalence of depression with the onset of puberty. The role of peripubertal testosterone levels in boys in this context is insufficiently understood and may be modulated by a functional polymorphism of the androgen receptor gene (AR), a variable number of CAG repeats. Moreover, there is preliminary evidence that the relationship between testosterone, CAG repeat length, and the severity of depressive symptoms may differ between subclinical and overt depression, but this has neither been studied in a clinical sample of adolescents with depression nor compared between subclinical and overt depression in an adequately powered study. To investigate the relationship between free testosterone, CAG repeat length of the AR, depression status (subclinical vs. overt), and the severity of depressive symptoms, 118 boys treated as in- or daycare patients at a single psychiatric hospital were studied. Of these, 73 boys had at least mild depressive symptoms according to the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II > 13). Higher-order moderation analysis in the multiple regression framework revealed a constant relationship between free testosterone and depression severity irrespective of the number of CAG repeats in adolescents with a BDI-II score ≤ 13. In adolescents with a BDI-II score > 13, however, there was a significant negative relationship between free testosterone and BDI-II score in patients with <19 CAG repeats and a significant positive relationship regarding free testosterone and BDI-II score in those with more than 28 CAG repeats, even when considering important covariates. These results suggest that the effects of testosterone on mood in male adolescents with depression depend on the genetic make-up of the AR as well as on depression status. This complex relationship should be considered by future studies addressing mental health issues against an endocrine background and may, moreover, contribute to tailored treatment concepts in psychiatric medicine, especially in adults.

Indexed as

adolescentsandrogen receptorCAG repeat lengthdepressiontestosterone

Identifiers

PMID34744823
PMCPMC8564040

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.